


How Much is Too Much?

by merthurs_babe



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M, Merthur - Freeform, Too Many Drinks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-27
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-03 21:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2888549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merthurs_babe/pseuds/merthurs_babe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompts: I’m somewhere past drunk and decidedly lost and you’re a kindly local on a nighttime outing au</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Much is Too Much?

It was _clearly_ an accident.

He only meant to have a few drinks—meaning maybe two or so. Yet, somehow he can’t remember how many drinks he had or where the hell he was currently. His friends had disappeared, which left him on his own to try to find his way home. The situation was, in the simplest terms, fucked.

Merlin always knew it didn’t take a lot of alcohol to get to him, but apparently he wasn’t thinking properly then. He was going to regret this all in the morning, he just knew it. Perhaps he’ll take a vacation day from work if it’s really bad.

_No._

He’ll take a vacation day anyways, unless it’s Friday and tomorrow is a Saturday or Sunday.

But Merlin doesn’t know what day it is right now.

It’s probably not in his favor nonetheless.

Nothing ever is.

One of the side effects he gets from being overloaded with alcohol was the ability for him to lose his focus real quick. This lead to Merlin slamming himself into a post, because he couldn’t concentrate on where he was going. Everything was spinning, and that made it harder to keep his eyes straight on the path ahead of him.

Groaning in pain, he held a hand to his head. “ _Damn_.” He mumbled, frustrated that this was going to add to his hangover headache later. He decided in that moment that he probably wasn’t going to hang out with those friends he drank with anymore. The thing was, he can’t even remember who he went to get drinks with. Vaguely, he remembered seeing a few faces, but the rest was unclear.

He’ll figure that out later.

First priority though was to get home and sleep.

But that was another problem, because he didn’t exactly know where he is or which way his flat is. Luck was not in his favor tonight obviously.

Calling a break from the dizziness consuming him, Merlin walked—or maybe stumbled would be a better word—shakily towards a bench to sit down with his head in his hands. He let go of the breath he was holding, massaging his temples that had begun to hurt. “Bloody hell. ‘M never drinking again.” Merlin muttered to himself. He was going to live by that now.

The fact that he couldn’t recall the last time he had a drink should say something about him. It must have been years, at the very least.

He should’ve kept it that way.

All he needed right now to make the situation worse was for someone to start talking to him—

“Hey, uh, you okay?” Merlin kept his head down, hoping he was just imagining the voice somewhere in his mind. He continued to massage his temples, but the voice spoke again. “Hello?” This made Merlin realize that someone was actually wanting to talk to him. He lifted his head to look at the person.

“Um, hi.” Merlin had to lean back on the bench, since tilting his head up made the back of his neck hurt. He blinked a few times at the blonde man that stood in front of him, whose head turned to the side. He gave the best smile he could with the formulating headache.

The blonde raised a brow, clearly confused with whatever face Merlin was trying to make.

“You okay?” The blonde man asked him again. Merlin had just noticed the guy had multiple plastic bags in his hand, meaning he was probably on a night outing. He wasn’t going to interrupt this man. He was raised better than that.

Merlin lied by nodding slowly, and running a hand through his hair coolly.

“Per…Perfect. Thanks – Thanks for asking.” It was only then that he started feeling a tingling sensation in his stomach, which then evolved into his stomach swirling rapidly. His hand shot up to his mouth, clear in his head what was about to happen, and he leaned over to throw up on the other side of the bench, away from the stranger.

He heard the blonde set his bags down on the ground and come closer to him. “No, you aren’t. What are you doing out here?” Merlin kept the back of his hand over his mouth as he turn back around to look at the blonde, suddenly feeling very light-headed. He shook his head when the stranger offered a hand out to him to help him up from the bench.

“ ‘M trying – trying to get home, that’s all. Waiting,” he paused for a few seconds to catch his breath. “Waiting for a bus.” He forced out the rest of the sentence, placing his other hand on his stomach.

“This isn’t a bus stop.” The blonde replied sharply, before he continued. “Okay. C’mon. I’ll take you home. My car is not even block away. Do you think you can walk?” Merlin scooted down the bench away from the stranger, shaking his head yet again.

“I don’t – I don’t even know you—” He felt another round coming up his throat, and quickly jerked his head to the side to throw up on the ground again. He groaned as he rested his elbows on his knees and head on his hands.

“My name is Arthur. Now you know me. C’mon. I’ll help you walk.” The man, or Arthur as he so claimed, picked up his bags then came back over to help Merlin stand up. With great strife, he eventually stood wobbly on his legs. “Okay, my car is right over there. Think you can make it?”

Merlin nodded, staying quietly to avoid puking in mid-sentence.

Slowly but surely, he and Merlin made it to his car. Merlin leaned against it with relief from his trip from the bench as Arthur shoved the bags in his trunk. He came back over to Merlin to open the door for him. “C’mon.” Merlin did as he was told and slowly sat down in the passenger seat. Arthur closed the door behind him and traveled around to the other side to get in.

Arthur started the car, but didn’t go anywhere.

Merlin didn’t comment.

“So, where do you live?” Arthur looked over at him, raising an expectant brow. It only now that Merlin realized that he couldn’t remember his address.

He was declaring alcohol his enemy now. Never again will Merlin drink.

Merlin was forced to shrug in reply, and groaned softly. Arthur sighed, nodding in understanding.

“Right. I guess I’ll take you back to mine then. We’ll figure it out in the morning.” Arthur proceeded to start driving away from the curb and down the one-way street. He wasn’t sure what happened after that, because suddenly sleep was pulling at him from every inch of his body and he couldn’t stay awake any longer.

***

Merlin jolted awake.

His head looked around quickly, as if on a swivel, while his stomach was swirling in nervousness from the unfamiliar surroundings. He immediately winced at the brightness that he realized was coming from the window. So much so, that he had to cover his eyes with his hands.

Merlin’s pounding headache soon began after that, which wasn’t helping him much either. It took a few moments, but suddenly he started remembering last night’s events. His eyes widened when officially he realized he was slightly undressed in a bed. That wasn’t his.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

_Where was he, first of all, and why was he here_?

Merlin decided he better check out the situation.

Merlin pushed the covers away from his half naked body, blushing slightly. He couldn’t believe someone undressed him. He would’ve been fine sleeping in the shirt he wore last night.

He bit his lip as he slid out of the bed and picked up his shirt from the chair by the bed. He instantly dropped it when he felt the wetness on it.

He probably wasn’t going to wear that then.

He looked around to find something to cover up with, and ended up grabbing a blanket from the bed. He wrapped himself with the blanket and made his way to the door.

Carefully, he turned the knob as quiet as he could and tip-toed down the hallway. He could hear noise coming from what was probably the kitchen, so he chose to peek inside.

He barely peered through the opening before he knew who’s place he was at. It was that one guy named Arthur, who practically saved his butt yesterday. He should thank him over coffee sometime.

Merlin entered the kitchen cautiously while keeping his eyes averted to the floor.

The blonde turned around at the sound of Merlin entering. “Oh, erm, hi. You, uh, didn’t tell me what your address was last night, so I brought you to mine. I hope that was okay?”

Merlin smiled faintly, nodding. “Uh yeah. Thank you for, you know, saving me yesterday.”

“It was no problem. I’m Arthur, in case you don’t remember my name.” Arthur explained, using hand motions and everything. Merlin chuckled quietly.

“No, I remember. I’m Merlin, because I probably didn’t tell you that last night.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Merlin.” Arthur nodded towards the table for Merlin to sit at as he went back to cooking breakfast. Merlin took a seat at one of the chairs by the table, clasping his fingers on the wood surface in front of him.

It was quiet for a few moments, Merlin unsure of what to say. Then, a thought popped back into his head.

“Um, look. I was wondering,” Merlin started, a faint flush crawling up his cheeks. He could hear Arthur turnaround from where he was standing at the stove. “Er, I was thinking I could buy you a drink to make it up to you for helping me out yesterday?” He paused, when he saw Arthur with a disapproving expression.

“A drink, huh? I’m pretty sure you probably shouldn’t drink—”

“I meant, coffee. Sorry. Um, could I get you a coffee or tea or something at the café to make it up to you, I mean? Sorry. Just a thought.” Merlin rambled, shaking his head. “You don’t have to. I just thought I could make it up to you, so it’s fine if you say no. I won’t be mad, but I just feel like I owe you something for last night. Like I said, it’s fine if you don’t want to. I completely understand.”

“For the love of gods, Merlin. Yes. I’d like that.” Arthur chuckled at Merlin’s verbose explanation.

“Really?” Merlin looked up at Arthur hopefully.

“ _Yes_. Now, c’mon over here. I hope you like pancakes for breakfast.”


End file.
